Storm
by ElvenAngelMayCry
Summary: One of my earliest works, written late2000. Insomnia and a bad mood led to this. Yeah, blame me, venting my nerves out on these two: Seifer and Squall... and no, its not yaoi, so HAH! I never see these two as lovers. Just trying to rip each other's throat


Phoebe's Prologue

Its September 2000, 4:00 in the morning over here, I can't sleep (insomnia is a curse in my life...) and I'm just sipping down some hot chocolate, trying to get a crave for my mattress and pillow...No use. I just have to write. Oh well. Here it goes...again. This time, Final Fantasy VIII fanfiction, I'm taking out my broodiness in this. Its depressing, its squeamish, its angst. It's the state of my fucked-up head.

Squall is the only one to make _inside _thoughts here, and when you see '...' with italics, its always his thoughts, and he acts somewhat like a 1st person narrator... also known as _inside _narrator. Yes, Aristotelian definitions and methods at works, because I blame it on my classical education. I've been reading too much of Aristotle's Poetics. Sorry.

Oh yeah, and another thing. The story's filled with Nickelback music. I was listening to their latest CD when I wrote this, and it kinda rubbed off me. Pop it in and try listening to it too, you might get the kind of feeling I get when I picture these things in my head...

_"All men naturally hate each other" _- Pascal 

A lot can happen on a stormy night of October. And strangely, they usually do. Some claim fate is a child that likes playing, others prefer calling her a bitch...Either way, it all comes down to how you take your fate. You can choose to accept it or deny it, and then you can choose to alter it, which is the toughest thing to do, and can even get you killed in the process. Too bad it often seems like you've got only one option, of accepting it. Right now, Squall felt fate was playing a game, or rather, a joke on him, and right under his nose too. He knew he had the option of denying it, but he didn't. He couldn't. Maybe that was his flaw, his original sin after all...

So he had accepted to walk under the rain to the old training field. The rain never spited him; on the contrary, he liked it. The rain could calm him, sooth his ever-boiling blood. The heavy raindrops clattered around him on the hard soil, and the earth drank them greedily. He was soaked wet, but it didn't matter.

Although he would prefer just about anything else, he had to admit that he was sad. Sad, not about walking in the rain, nor about where he was going, or whom he was going to meet. He was sadder about the reason he'd been called to the old training field, that specific one. He was thinking about it on his way there, as he listened to the rain and the rhythmic clicking of his boots on the ground, **chunck-chunck-chunck...**

He was walking, thinking and listening.

_'...Gotta get up to the training grounds...feel the rain through my clothes. I only hope it can wash the sadness outta me before it washes me outta my own skin. Nevertheless...maybe seeing him will have the same effect... I've got to keep telling myself this is just a dream...'_

He kept walking under the rain thinking of the sudden phone call, the familiar voice, and the request he couldn't turn down... No, the past had him bound to that voice with unbreakable threads that controlled him. He desperately sought to cut free of those threads, and there was only one who could help him, but Squall could not reach him... Even if he had summoned Squall to a meeting, Squall knew he was going to meet someone else, not him. A stranger. Now, as he thought of that prospect, it made him sad. His thoughts were consuming him, evolving, rotting and bursting open in his head...

_'There's something wrong...very wrong. I can feel it building in the rain. This situation -I know- is just a frying pan, waiting to spray a lump of hot, nasty fat in my eye...' _

Squall looked ahead. Good, he was almost there. He could stop for a little, and he did. He looked up at the storm clouds circling above, the rain pouring down endlessly, dripping off him, his damp hair falling over his face and eyes, the raindrops whipping his face weakly. With his hand he irrationally combed his wet hair back from his face, and looked up at the cloudy sky, the thunders erupting and the rain falling.

_'I've had this sense of things long enough to see what's going on. This is no ordinary, random event. Some months ago, a request like this started something...something big. I had this same feeling back then. This time around, it'll be an **end**. Whether **he** likes it or not...'_

Squall sighed and walked the last few meters to the training field. He'd already shed his blood in this place once. He was standing at the other end, the rain dripping off him as well, his clothes soaked through, but his sight was cold as ice, yet was burning with a crazy rage beneath, and the gunblade was already in his hand.

Seifer.

He gazed over at Squall as he stared back coolly, and a madly satisfied grin spread over his face. Squall had always detested that grin.

"Hello" Seifer said sternly, the grin insisting.

"What do you want Seifer?" Squall asked, his voice sounding like a whip's crack, and his eyes slitting, as he didn't find this amusing at all.

"To renew our acquaintance, of course. We both knew this day was coming - don't deny it" Seifer said.

"Yeah, on my calendar" Squall snapped. "'October 28th - Pick up Angelo from vet; kick Seifer's ass into next week.'"

Seifer let loose one of those scornful laughs he always saved especially for Squall.

"Ha Ha! Oh, that's priceless. You know, I always liked your snappy comebacks, so inspired and clever" Seifer laughed. "We make quite a pair, don't you think? We're both Garden's pride of fighters, both of us are chaotic personalities...we're both crazy. Well, I've got a joke for you, the best one yet in all the years we've known each other. And I can't wait to see your face when you hear the punch line."

Squall listened to Seifer with his face cold and expressionless like a statue. Cold, like usual.

"Uh-uh...No way. I don't want to deal with the madman. I want to talk to Seifer Almasy" he said.

Seifer had stepped ahead and was eyeing Squall.

"I know you can hear me in there Seifer. We can't keep going on like this - its gotta end sometime" Squall went on.

Seifer's mad grin widened.

"Quite" he said. "Quite, my old rival. You're still perceptive, and you're still -let me use this term- quite the amateur psychiatrist."

Seifer jerked his gunblade sideways - a signal of challenge, and Squall faced it with a sudden hardening of his gaze over Seifer.

"Sadly, I'm gonna have to gag at your little perceptions. We're shackled by a chain, Squall" Seifer said with a mock sigh, and charged up a Firaga spell as Squall's eyes widened momentarily in terror. "-A chain of events for which neither of us has a hacksaw. So we'd best get rid of the weak link!" he bawled and cast the spell on Squall.

Squall reacted fast and with a shout of fright threw himself aside, avoiding the massive damage and only got caught by the trust wave that knocked him over, throwing him on his face.

He got dizzy for a matter of seconds. Through his spinning head, thoughts kept evolving persistently. Meanwhile, Seifer was advancing towards him fast, with his mad smile looking ever more happy, and his gunblade gleefully ready to strike.

_'He comes in like lighting. A flash of gray...and before I know it, he's on me.' _

Squall didn't have time to get up, only to turn around on his elbows to see Seifer raising his gunblade to wedge it through him. His good reflexes were the only thing that saved him-

_'As usual, his tactics are as unpredictable as any of the many faces he's shown me. I've faced him a hundred times and yet I'm always taken by surprise.' _

Squall rolled aside quickly and Seifer's blade was wedged in the ground. But Seifer had quick reflexes too, and gave Squall a kick on the stomach that sent him rolling away, and up on his knees, groaning and holding his stomach.

_'I have this sudden notion that he's manipulating me - again. He's toying with me. That's Seifer's favourite game: the method of the leopard. First he weakens his victim, he bullies it till its helpless on its knees, and then, he chews it down in one gulp. But, there's one thing I love in this whole thing...'_

Squall stood up, drew his gunblade and bolted towards Seifer, and catching him by surprise, while he was preparing another blow, rammed him with his shoulder and knocked him backwards.

_'...I can throw it right on his dumb face and laugh at his look.'_

Seifer bellowed and attacked with his gunblade and Squall countered with his. Metal clashed on metal, releasing sparks, and they both attacked each other again and again, always clashing their blades, bellowing. Squall attempted a reaper swing, but Seifer ducked and ran his leg in a half-circle, hitting Squall's legs and knocking him off his feet. Squall fell on his back with a groan, and Seifer was there to land his knee on Squall's chest and pin him down. Squall bawled in pain.

"Hh-UHH!"

But he was no sitting duck. He jerked his leg with a swift move, and somehow, pressuring his leg's muscles to the extreme, knee-kicked Seifer on the crotch and sent him off him, moaning.

"Hrahh!"Seifer bellowed.

He stood, hunched over, his hand over his groin, moaning. Squall stood up, slightly bent over, panting and his chest aching. He stared at Seifer as he slightly looked up at him with a frown full of anger and hate. Abysmal hate. The rain kept pouring down on them. Squall rubbed his aching chest.

"Why now Seifer? Think you could at least give me that damned answer? Ah-huhhh" Squall said and moaned, from the sharp jab of pain from his chest. "Why me, and why now! Why are you pursuing me!" he demanded.

Seifer stood straight and laughed with a mad snort. He glared at Squall.

"I'll go you one better Squall: Why not!" he bawled, and charged on Squall with his gunblade ready.

_'The same feeling of getting caught by surprise...I wonder, am I letting him do this? Do I just...pity him?'_

Seifer jerked his gunblade and its tip barely grazed Squall's chest as he backed off. Seifer jerked his gunblade again and Squall ducked under it. Then they began clashing their gunblades again and again as they attacked each other with rage. Their arms were aching a bit from the jolts and the vibrations of their weapons that ran through the blades and reached their arms. Neither of them cared about the pain, or the rain or the thunders erupting violently over their heads. Eventually, Squall ran up to Seifer and swung his gunblade from side to side about three times and Seifer was forced to back off to avoid getting hit.

Seifer ran up to Squall and they clashed their blades again. With a swift, diagonal jerk, Seifer hit Squall's gunblade and it bounced back, making Squall lose his footing for a bit. Seifer rammed Squall with his shoulder and pushed him backwards. Squall fell on his back and it reminded him of the last time he'd fought Seifer here. Squall got up and just as he stood straight Seifer stormed on him and pushed him backwards again. Squall's back slammed on a rock and he dropped his gunblade.

"Aa-UHH!" he gasped.

"Ha Ha Ha! This is getting fun Squall! And you know I love games..." Seifer chuckled with a mad look.

Squall groaned and fell to his knees. Seifer had delivered a hard blow to his stomach and his breath was caught. His back...he couldn't feel it for a dreadful second, but it hurt him terribly. Seifer leered down at him with his scornful, mad grin on his face.

"You're falling Squall. You're getting slothful, and you're getting predictable." Seifer snorted.

He brought the blade near Squall, ready to use it in a lethal -perhaps- strike, if he felt like it, any time.

"Ha Ha...if only you were as enduring as your stubbornness, eh?" he chuckled.

_'...I'm as stubborn as always Seifer...and I've had worse than this, dork.'_

"Ghmf!" Seifer bellowed as Squall coolly drew his arm back and landed his fist on Seifer's face as he jerked himself up on his feet.

Seifer stumbled backwards, bringing his hand over his face, as the blood from his nose poured down and mixed with the rain. Squall stood up, picked up his gunblade and towered over Seifer, with a nasty look on his face. He wiped some blood from the side of his mouth, coming from a small cut on his lip, with the side of his wrist, and stared at Seifer, who was still with his hand over his bleeding nose.

"Y'know, I would've thought you were seriously getting bored of having your ass kicked by now, Seifer." he said grimly.

Seifer moaned.

Squall strode up to him as Seifer got up and readied himself to react.

_'I'm sick of him.' _

Squall jerked his gunblade as Seifer swung his to block Squall's strike, but Squall's blade hit hard on Seifer's, and Squall pulled the trigger to double the force. Seifer's gunblade was knocked right out of his hands and fell on the ground with a metallic clatter.

"You're right to say we're both nuts..." Squall said grimly again. "Crazy, scitzo...its all the same to me" he added and delivered a straight side-kick to Seifer's face.

_"Nn-AHH!"_ Seifer bawled as he was jerked sideways by the force of the kick and fell on his face with a thud.

_'Seifer's not down...not yet. I know him too well, he's still got might to fight back, even kill me if he feels like it.'_

Squall walked up to him and towered over him, his face frowned up with rage and, his look piercing Seifer, who was still face down on the ground, groaning, and had only begun getting up on his elbows.

"Let's get things straight, lunatic. I'm not gonna play your sick little game. You're deluding yourself if you think I do." he said frightfully.

"...Hhhh... on the contrary Squall." Seifer said. "You're the one deluding yourself... Ah-heh..."

"Quit it Seifer. You can't make me do something I don't choose to do."

"Ha ha heh...Don't be so sure Squall. I did it before, don't forget. I've got influence on you, we both know that...hhh...ha ha Just a few months ago I had you playing my game!"

"That's over Seifer. I've cut loose from you. You can't toy with me anymore."

"Hahahahah!" Seifer laughed. "Hhhh... Here's a bet for ya Squall..." he added, grabbing a sharp, pointy rock in front of him. "...haha...500 Gil and a pizza says I CAN!" he bawled and jerking his arm up, wedged the stone through Squall's left shoulder.

"AHH!" Squall hollered and threw his head back. A crack of bones was heard and the blood sprouted out of the wound and stained his clothes.

He stumbled backwards, fell to a knee and dropped his gunblade. Seifer got up and glared at him. Squall bellowed and gripped the stone still wedged in his shoulder. Now Seifer was towering over him. He wasn't at all in a hurry to pick up his own gunblade.

"I wouldn't take that bet if I were you Squall. You're not gonna like the payoff. You know me, I always reach to the extreme. Tonight we end our lovely little relationship. I call the shots between us- I always did! And I always get what I want" Seifer said with a smirk.

Squall pulled the stone out of his shoulder with a sharp gasp of pain, and more blood pumped out of the wound, crimson and warm and it killed him to watch it.

"You know you could end it all, you stubborn cretin" Seifer said. "But then again you know I don't stop running -"

"Till you're splattered on the wall; yeah I know Seifer." Squall said, pressing his hand against the wound on his shoulder. "I know where you want to take this Seifer, and I guess I know why its gotta be me."

"Yeah. Going up against you always had a special flavour to it, don't you think?"

"No Seifer...It's me cause I'm the only one like you, hh-uuhh..." Squall said with a moan. "You don't have anyone else to turn to."

_'For a moment, I'm under the impression Seifer is almost sensible. We're starring at each other, he's towering over me...But then I remember this is Seifer I'm dealing with...Seifer, who never stops. Like I ever do...Aristotle said 'virtues lie in the middle of two extremes'. Neither of us ever seemed to have grasped the bottom of that theory I guess...'_

Squall watched Seifer kick away his gunblade and look down at him, still knelt and pressing his wound.

"Let's have some chit-chat" he said with a grim smirk.

A thunder boomed over them.

"A couple of months ago, I had you playing my game Squall. Ah, fond memories." Seifer said, pacing around Squall, whose shoulder was still bleeding quite badly under the rain. "You were predictable back then, and easy to use, you always were. Good berks like you are easily manipulated." Seifer went on. "You were so stuck on saving Rinoa you actually carried her all the way to where Ultimecia wanted...over to Adel."

Squall bellowed at that memory.

_'I can't deny Seifer has a point there. I was being manipulated. Back then Seifer wasn't Ultimecia's pawn - I was. She wanted to get to Adel, and I took her straight to her, through Rinoa...In all my despair and anxiety, I nearly was the beginning of the end back then. Its hard to believe I stopped it when it was already too late. We pulled the world, half-chewed, right out of the wolf's jaws, literally. And as I listen to him, I see he is right. But wait...He's got one point wrong...'_

"Hah..." Squall snorted. "_You_ manipulating me? Pu-please Seifer, you couldn't even manipulate a Chicobo if you tried...Ultimecia was the one manipulating both of us. And the dumb one of us is you, you _let_ her brain-wash you, dork."

Seifer kicked Squall on the face and knocked him on his back. Squall decided he had had enough. Ignoring his shoulder's wound, he got up. Though his knees were kinda wobbly, he stood straight and faced Seifer.

"You think you can outsmart me, huh?" Seifer said. "You've got the wrong end, Squall. Look at yourself; you're already falling to pieces. Even if Ultimecia was pulling the strings, you've got a fat share of the blame for that tragedy, as much as I do! Hahah! So we're both the villains in this outfit, don't you think!"

Squall did not reply. Such an accusation really bothered him. "Seifer, I seriously wish you'd shut your hole. You're a madman, and I don't know how you turned out like this. -Huhhh...ow...- You always were trouble for everybody, but now you've gone crazy, way beyond where you were."

Seifer laughed like a madman. "Maybe you are right Squall! I am a madman! But you know what's the joke here? YOU made me a madman! You and all the times you managed to beat me and humiliate me even if I were better than you! You always had that thing of catching up with me and winning first. You beat me at the SeeD exam, and then you beat me at the Timber situation, getting to Rinoa first. Then, every time I seemed to get Ultimecia's plans somewhere, you came in and messed it all up! And dammit, the most frustrating...you kept beating me in battle...I never figured how you did that. Whether I battled you alone, or when the others were with you, things were the same. I lost...HOW WAS THAT SO, TWEPR!" Seifer barked in a peak of his rage.

"...I don't know Seifer."

_'I'm not lying here. I don't know how come I can always beat Seifer...well, ok, nearly always. At least, I don't know what made me beat him so many times in the past. My despair? My anxiety to get the right thing done?...Am I contradicting myself here? I don't believe in the existence of good and evil...just two sides with different standpoints. Seifer had different perspectives than me...I had to oppose him... But how did I beat him? I don't know...was it my hate against him? Do I hate this man before me? Am I filled with detest and rage and hate for him? No...I also feel pity...'_

"You lie Squall...You know very well, but you just won't tell, stupid cretin. But the lies end here. Now we're gonna sort this out, for good." Seifer said.

"Seifer, listen to me. Let's not take this to the end. Every time we've done it, someone got hurt. This is a stupid game of tag none of us ever wins. Let's stop it." Squall said.

Seifer laughed, but it was a weird laugh. "Stop? How can you say that Squall, we haven't even started yet! We can't stop this... its a downhill ride and nothing can stop our fall...We're crashing downwards...We might as well enjoy the ride..." he said.

Squall didn't reply. He was anxious about his shoulder, and he was anxious about where this crazy game would take him. He tried to maintain his composure, but in the very depths of himself, he knew he had begun to boil in anger.

"So Squall...what'll the next move be?" Seifer asked with a smirk. "Ha Ha...look at the weather. Perfect scenery for a duel, don't you think?"

"He's nuts..." Squall thought.

_'But...how sane am I when I lead this kind of life? I mean, he wedged a stone through my shoulder, and yet I'm still here, facing him. Am I as crazy as he is?' _

"Seifer...I always had a rough time understanding what you had in that head of yours. I still have, but thankfully, your brain seems to work in a single pattern I know by heart..." Squall bellowed, and it only made Seifer snarl in anger and attack him bare handed, knocking him over and punching him on the face.

Squall kicked Seifer off him with a blow on the stomach, and got up. They backed off from each other, and glared at each other fiercely.

"Is that all you've got Squall? You were tougher at other times!" Seifer said.

Squall gritted his teeth. "You know Seifer, I guess you're right. Maybe I am taking it easy on you. Listen here, nutcase. The joke's on you now. Looks like you're not open to any conversation. You want to take this to the end so badly I have no other option than give in to your insane demands...Alright, let's finish this." he said.

Seifer laughed. "Ah-HAH! Now there's the Squall I remember! Ha Ha Ha...You'll never change, so predictable."

"Predictable...am I Seifer?" Squall asked, his face frowned. "You know me better than that Seifer...after all..._you_ made me..."

"Huh!" Seifer gapped.

"You Seifer...you and all your bullying...you and everything you did to me. We're the same thing Seifer...you said it yourself." Squall raised his hands and popped his knuckles. "I've had just about enough of you. If we're ever gonna end this, I'll just have to be like you." he said grimly.

He maintained a calm stance; he appeared to be loose, but ever muscle of his was tensed.

Seifer eyed him, then shook his head, with a chuckle. "Even with a rock through your shoulder you won't stop. I like that, and you know it."

"Your move Seifer." Squall said sternly.

Seifer skidded sideways and got hold of his Gunblade. Then he attacked Squall, trying to ram him with the blade. Squall had good reflexes, and that saved him. As the blade was coming crashing towards him, he evaded it and it grazed his side, and as it came he gripped Seifer's arm and kicking his leg he knocked him off his feet, and used Seifer's own run to send him flying over his shoulder. Seifer bellowed in anger and surprise, and turned around in the air and landed on his feet. Meanwhile Squall bellowed and clenching his teeth brought his hand over his injured shoulder. That had strained his shoulder and had really hurt.

Seifer attacked Squall again, swinging his gunblade, but Squall ducked under it, and jerking his arm, punched Seifer on the kidney, making him shout in pain and step back. But not for long, cause he attacked again, and this time, the strike was to be a straight blow from down to up.

Seifer was known for the ferocity of that strike.

_'...My fury is boiling. I don't know how much longer I can discipline myself. Seeing him attack me relentlessly like this makes me angry. It always has. Like I said myself, I'm gonna have to be like him...I changed my mind; Now I **want** to end this...'_

Seifer jerked his gunblade, but Squall was no longer there to be hit. He had jumped in the air and backwards, coiling himself up and then landing on his feet right by his gunblade.

"Getting predictable, am I Seifer?" he said.

With a deft move he slid his foot under the Gunblade and kicked it upwards. It twirled edge over edge two times, then he gripped and took fighting stance, clenching his teeth from the pain that hurt his shoulder.

"Well then, why don't you come get a taste?" he added.

A thunder erupted over them, as Seifer snarled with anger, his face frowned up like a mad-man's from his rage, his eyes peeled open and shining with insanity. He bawled and attacked Squall, swirling around himself with the gunblade facing outwards and earning a good momentum. But the blade crashed heavily on Squall's as he countered. They pushed on each other, grinding their teeth and bellowing with anger. Their eyes met and for a moment Seifer was startled by the awfully calm -nearly cold- but fierce stare of Squall's sight. Squall faced with calmness the madness in Seifer's sight. He was afraid, there was no way he could help admitting it, but as he always did, he never let fear take over him.

Squall was feeling the pressure on his injured shoulder was growing, and the bleeding had yet to stop. Knowing this would weaken him, he knew he somehow had to end this quickly. Using a technique he had taught himself, he slowly pushed his leg near Seifer's, and with a swift and deft move made Seifer lose his footing and lean backwards. Knowing he had only splits of a second to do something before Seifer could come to himself, he stepped back, with his teeth clenched together tightly, his face a grimace of pain. His shoulder was killing him.

_'As I feel the wedges of pain through my shoulder, I know the damage is probably more than I imagine or Seifer would've hoped to have caused. And yet...I know that if I give up now...I'm finished.'_

"Ha ha ha...feeling like a break Squall?" Seifer sneered.

Squall bellowed from the pain of his shoulder, and just glared at him.

Seifer chuckled.

"...You can't change Seifer. You always fought dirty...why make an exception for me?..." Squall bellowed.

"Ha Ha Ha...Now you're getting my point..." Seifer said, glaring down at him.

"Exactly. You fight dirty, cause that's the only way you know how to fight, dork!" Squall said, finding a surge of strength in him, and standing up straight. "Unless you do a dirty blow, you know you're finished. That's your way. To hit like a snake. But you can't do otherwise, can you Seifer? Nah...you'd lose any other way..."

"SHUT UP!" Seifer roared, and attacked him, blinded by his rage.

_'...And if there's one thing I can't allow myself to do...that's dying before I see all I want to see. I hate death. Everyone knows that.'_

Squall was waiting for a reaction like that. But not with that ferocity. Just by luck he managed to evade an otherwise fatal strike. He dodged two more strikes, and confusing Seifer with his quick movements, found himself behind Seifer, who turned with his blade extended outwards, and Squall blocked the blow with his gunblade, knocking it off course.

Then he took advantage of the opening in Seifer's defense, and attacked, swinging his gunblade, nearly single handed, and Seifer had to admit that Squall had some serious power in his upper body and arms, otherwise the blade wouldn't crash on his with such force that made him gasp. But Squall didn't stop there. He drew back his gunblade, and swing it again and again. Horizontal strikes that Seifer had a hard time blocking, and one of those strikes Squall was an expert at: he stepped back and raising the gunblade over head swung it down as he charged ahead. It had tremendous force and Seifer could do nothing but back off.

_'I hate the idea that people would use past tense to talk about me, when I haven't defined to them who I am yet...I don't want them to spread lies. And I do know this: I'm the one whose gonna decide where, when and how I die. And here, under the rain by Seifer's hand is surely not the way I want.'_

But Seifer did not leave it at that. As Squall recovered from his last strike, with his shoulder bleeding ever so more, Seifer charged ahead, trying to take advantage of Squall's weak grip of the gunblade. Squall figured this would never end by use of gunblades, and felt tired of Seifer's lame game. He decided to take the duel a step beyond Seifer's expectation. And not only.

_'So because I want to start making choices in my little, miserable life, I've just made the choice to end this here and now and rid myself of Seifer's annoying habits.'_

And as Seifer came ramming up at him, he stood hard on the ground, determined not to be thrown off his feet. Seifer came in seeking to ram him with his shoulder, but as he crashed onto Squall, he threw all of his weight on Squall's injured shoulder making him shout out in pain.

"AAH!"

Squall lost his sure footing and fell, but had the sense to grab Seifer and pull him down with him. Squall fell on his knee, and quickly jerking his gunblade blocked another strike that was coming from Seifer. The blades crashed with a metallic sound. Squall was on one knee, pushing Seifer back almost single-handed. He finally got hold of himself and pushing Seifer back, slowly got up to his feet. Finally he jerked his leg to kick Seifer, but he had the sense to jump back first this time.

Meanwhile, the rain was pouring down on them endlessly.

Both stepped back to catch their breaths. Squall wiped his mouth and bleeding lip with his sleeve, and stared at Seifer, who shook his head like some dog and stared back at him with a crazed look. He ran his hand over his bleeding nose, and then spat to his side. He raised his gunblade again.

_'Right about now he should be doing the move I'm expecting...the sooner the better.'_

"Come on." Squall said.

Seifer bellowed and begun running towards him, and so did Squall. Both were running towards each other, and you thought they'd crash, but what crashed was their gunblades. That's when Squall 'served' out his surprise.

"Now!" he bellowed and as the blades touched fired the trigger.

The extra force and vibration doubled the blade's force and so as he slashed the air, Squall's gunblade crashed onto Seifer's and broke the blade, snapping it like a twig.

Seifer gasped, and watched the end of his blade break off and get thrust away, to rebound on a rock and plunge in the ground. That was the end of it. With a cry, Squall knocked the broken gunblade out of Seifer's hands and dropping his, kicked him on the face. The force was such Seifer was knocked off his feet and fell on his back.

Enraged beyond return, Squall strode up to him and before Seifer could come to himself, gripped him by the collar and lifted him up to eyesight. Then he punched him, and as Seifer stumbled backwards, Squall punched him again on the face, and Squall's fist landed on Seifer's face so forcefully, a crack was heard through the rain and blood splattered over Seifer's chest. Squall had probably broken his nose.

"This is it Seifer. We're ending it." Squall muttered.

_'...As I realise I'm becoming a beast right now, I feel odd. In some sense, this is deliverance. In another way, this is another sin of mine...I've saved and I've condemned...I wonder, am I a sinner, or a saint?...'_

Seifer tried to defend himself, by quickly bending over and grabbing another stone from the ground. Like the other one, it was pointy and rather sharp. He used it to try and stab Squall, but he quickly backed off, and as Seifer swung it again, he ducked and supporting himself on his good arm he jerked both legs towards Seifer's. He hit Seifer's right leg, and the speed the crash occurred was so much, the bone beneath the flesh broke, and with a violent cry, Seifer fell like a tree struck by thunder.

"AHHHHH! AARH!"

It seemed like a violent injury, and through his trousers, Seifer knew the bone was piercing the flesh. He fell to the ground with a thud, and now he realized he'd lost all of his fury, all the mad rage. His eyes were now terrified of the certainty that Squall would do the same thing he'd been planning to do to him.

Squall got up and towered over Seifer. Seifer whelped and tried to crawl away from him. Squall silently bent over and gripped Seifer's arm. He twisted it behind Seifer's back, making him bellow and shout, and with a jerk of the arm broke it. Then he picked the same hand, and with a grim and terrifying calm gripped the fingers and broke them all together.

"N-AAAAHHHH! AAARHHH! ARG!" Seifer shouted, and his cries erupted and covered the cracks of the thunders above.

Squall let go of Seifer, and he fell on the ground like a sack of dirt, curling himself up like a worm weakly, bellowing and moaning in pain and holding his broken arm. He dared a terrified look up to Squall.

"As you see I've ended this." Squall said sternly. "The injuries are too severe to allow you to ever use a gunblade again. I didn't kill you because I'm not entirely like you. Maybe I'm better, but maybe I'm just worse than you. Don't ever think of coming near me again, I'm not going to be so merciful. If I were you, I'd forget everything about fighting. Your goal now should be surviving. That's all I have to say." Squall said fearfully and grimly, and above all, so coldly he would scare even the devil.

He turned his back to his defeated opponent, picked up his gunblade, sheathed it, and walked away, leaving Seifer on the ground, like a pitiful, rickety old doll and walked away through the rain, not ever looking back.

THE END


End file.
